HONOLULU, HI- Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee-at-Large Keli‘i Akina went on record today commending his fellow trustees for finally executing a $500,000 contract to independently audit OHA and its subsidiary LLCs for fraud, waste and abuse. Trustee Akina has been on record as critical of the fact that a year and a half has passed since the OHA Board of Trustees first committed to the independent audit.

“Finally, we can say that the OHA Board will deliver on its promise to ensure the independent audit for fraud, waste and abuse demanded by beneficiaries and the public,” stated Trustee Akina. “Since the time this audit was first approved by the Board in February 2017, there has been heightened concern by the State Auditor over OHA’s finances and media reports of other investigations into OHA. At last, Hawaiian beneficiaries and the public will get the accounting they deserve.”

Trustee Akina continued, “I am especially grateful to Trustee Carmen Hulu Lindsey, Chair of the Committee on Resource Management, for pushing through the finalization of the contract for this audit.”

Trustee Akina helped craft the scope of the audit while serving as chair of the Audit Advisory Committee, and successfully lobbied the Board of Trustees to include within the audit not only OHA, but its subsidiary LLCs.

Auditing firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) has begun work and will present its findings to the Board in April 2019. CLA is the eighth largest CPA and consulting firm in the United States, according to Accounting Today’s 2018 Top 100 rankings.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this news release are the personal views of Trustee Akina and may not reflect the views of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or its Board of Trustees.

Keliʻi Akina, Ph.D., is a community leader who is known for the phrase he has coined, "E Hana Kākou" - Let's work together! Over the past several years as a public policy adviser at the legislative, congressional and international levels, Dr. Akina’s mission has been to preserve the Aloha Spirit by which native Hawaiians and people of all races are welcomed and encouraged to work together for a better future for all our keiki. He was elected to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees in November 2016.